N.H. police commissioner slurs Obama

May 16, 2014
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Wolfeboro Police Commissioner Robert Copeland is confronted by Whitney White, right, and Elizabeth Smith after a meeting Thursday as town residents ask for his resignation after being overheard calling President Obama a racial slur at a restaurant. / Jim Cole, AP

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

Residents of a small New Hampshire town are calling for the resignation of a police commissioner who acknowledges using a racial slur toward President Obama.

"I believe I did use the 'N' word in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse," Robert Copeland said in an e-mail to his fellow police commissioners after a resident complained. "For this, I do not apologize -- he meets and exceeds my criteria for such."

Resident Jane O'Toole, who said she overheard Copeland using the slur at a restaurant in March, told the commission at a meeting this week: "Comments like these, especially coming from a public official, are not only inexcusable but also terribly, unfortunately, reflects poorly on our town."

About 100 residents attended the meeting to call for the resignation of Copeland, 82, who is white.

"Copeland, who has declined to be interviewed, is one of three members of the police commission, which hires, fires and disciplines officers and sets their salaries. He ran unopposed for re-election and secured another three-year term on March 11.

"About 20 black people live in Wolfeboro, a town of 6,300 residents in the scenic Lakes Region, in the central part of New Hampshire, a state that's 94 percent white and 1 percent black. None of the town police department's 12 full-time officers is black or a member of another minority."